


september evenings

by wingsaloof



Series: equinox [1]
Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Dating, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Festivals, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsaloof/pseuds/wingsaloof
Summary: It's only their first month together, and they haven't kissed yet, but Muku wants to make it special.
Relationships: Izumida Azami/Sakisaka Muku
Series: equinox [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024849
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	september evenings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [constant_stomachache](https://archiveofourown.org/users/constant_stomachache/gifts).



> brought to you thanks to a special request!

Muku crosses off another day in his calendar, smiling at the small heart drawn in the following square. 

Tomorrow marks one month ever since he confessed to Azami, and from then it’ll be five days until they get to their first anniversary as a couple. Well, monthiversary, if that’s a thing. It’s been a great time so far, he beams to himself (to Kazunari’s fond amusement). They’ve gone on dates almost every weekend since then — one to the movies, one to the nearby park, and one to the shopping district two stations away. He managed to hold Azami’s hand in the dark of the theater, and Muku got to hold on to his arm when they were squeezed into a packed train. He even fed Azami when they stopped at a café last time! 

All of this progress can only lead to their next landmark: their first kiss. As one might notice, Muku always takes the lead in their relationship — and he takes huge pride in that! He confessed first, he’s the oldest, he’s got more (second-hand) experience. Logically, he’ll also kiss Azami first, at least he gets used to it. The only problem is that, well, he has never kissed anyone before. But he also never had gone on a date, held hands with someone other than family, or had a boyfriend.

Azami helps him find confidence, and he rides on that feeling while planning their next outing. 

The first step of his plan is to gather information — ‘No, that does not mean a manga binge, Kazu, I’m serious!’ — with reading materials other than his usual comics. That is the reason why he’s standing at the door of room 105, knocking as fast as he can, before Azami can peek in from next door. Taichi, bless his soul, is quick to come to the door, already aware of Muku’s plan.

“I’ve selected my best tips!” He grins, shoving a pile of bookmarked magazines on his friend. Of course, he can’t admit it never worked for him, but since Muku already has a boyfriend, that’s well over half of the reasons why Taichi never managed to kiss anyone. “If you have any questions after reading, you can text me, okay?”

“Of course. Thank you very much!” Muku’s smile dazzles him, and for a second Taichi questions why he’d have trouble getting Azami to kiss him. But it’s best to always have all of your bases covered, right?

That’s tip #5 for the perfect date, highlighted with a yellow post-it. Kazu looks over from his bed at Muku sprawled on the floor — there are magazines scattered everywhere, and he’s jotting stuff down on a small notebook, like a student cramming for his final exams. Even during his high school days, Kazu never studied for anything as hard as Muku is analyzing those teen articles. Young love really is wonderful, he sighs with a smile.

His roommate can’t even bother to ask what’s wrong, mostly because his focus filters out any external noise. Muku goes over his checklist once more: ‘outfit’, ‘food’, and ‘top karaoke songs’ are checked, but he’s still agonizing over some major points, such as ‘nice spots’. If he’s going to kiss Azami, he has to be  _ very _ considerate of their surroundings. It can’t be anywhere crowded, obviously, so the logical conclusion would be the dorms, but anyone could spot them at any minute, so that’s a no-no. He should do some field research, but there are only four days left and the forecast said it will rain tomorrow and the day after—

Oh, no, he forgot to check the weather report! How could he commit a basic mistake like that? What if it rains? A sudden storm will fall upon them, a rare phenomenon that will make it snow in September, and they’ll be stranded with no way to go back to the dorms! Wait, if you think about it, that is a chance for a kiss, there are many scenes like this, where the main couple is isolated and have to cuddle together for warmth... that isn’t a bad idea per se, but... 

What if Azami catches the flu and gets bedridden?!

“What’s wrong, Mukkun?” He looks over his shoulder to find a distressed Kazu, kneeling down to his eye level. “You let a shriek out of nowhere, man. Are you okay?”

His hand moves by itself to grab the pencil and scribble “check weather report”. 

In the end, with three days to spare, Muku came across the perfect situation. Taichi texted him about a festival at the temple four stations away — a little far, but manageable. He will need to change his outfit for a yukata, but no problem! He still has one at home. Chatlog full of excited Lime stickers, he sent an invite to Azami, who accepted right away and said he’s going to get his old yukata too! They are going to match outfits, somewhat! 

The weather report says it will be a scorching day followed by a cloudy night, with little chance of actual rain, but taking his luck into account, Muku packed a small umbrella into his bag. The wait for Azami seems dragged out, though his phone tells him it’s only been 10 minutes. Enough time for a couple of actors to pass by — Tsumugi heads to the kitchen while complimenting his get-up, Misumi says he hopes they’ll come across multiple triangles, the Yosei boys are heading to the campus, for their own festival preparations (Juza pats his head on his way out). His phone buzzes with “good luck” and “take care” texts from Kazunari and Taichi, and both Kumon and Yuki stop to cheer him on, although in different ways, before leaving towards the local mall. Muku is so focused on not spiraling that he only notices his date has arrived when Banri is whistling at them from the couch.

“Don’t have too much fun, you two.”

“How good it is to be young...” Itaru adds in a monotone.

Azami doesn’t spare a single ‘good afternoon’ or ‘hello’. The teasing gets to him right away, so he grabs Muku’s hand and pulls him along. “Let’s get going.”

It’s kind of endearing.

The train ride is filled with mindless chatter, things like “any booths you want to go to?” or “are you buying an amulet for academic success?”. The patterns in Azami’s green yukata keep catching his attention from the corner of his sight, thistles in pale white spreading through the fabric. He doesn’t have anything on him besides a coin purse, and so, both of his hands hang on the handrail. His head is slightly tilted to the side, leaning on his left forearm — Muku can’t quite see him like that, but it’s okay. He stands a little closer and hangs on to Azami’s raised arm.

That’s when he goes quiet for a couple moments, leaving only enough space for the train announcements to ring on their ears. It’s almost their stop.

The path up to the temple stairway is lined up with stalls, the smell of oil and spices enticing. When night falls and everything lights up, this view will be beautiful, Muku thinks. At least something is already lit — Azami’s eyes usher him to move faster and start playing around. Despite his uncontrolled expression, he asks if there’s somewhere Muku wants to go first.

“Lead the way, Azami-kun.” He giggles. “What do you want to do?”

Muku never thought he could get his feet hurt while walking on cloud nine. It’s been a while since he last got blisters; the last time was still back in middle school. His athlete feet have gotten softer over the years, it seems. It feels a little wrong to put it like that, but he’s glad they’re finally settling down, after twilight, in a booth by the shooting game stall. Azami went ahead and paid for two bowls of yakisoba without saying a word about it. 

As predicted by the forecast, clouds are gathering in the night sky, as Muku can confirm from the gaps in between the booth’s curtained entrance. By his side, Azami is busy tying his hair up into a bun, sweat rolling down his neck. The smoke from the improvised kitchen is going to leave their yukatas impregnated with the smell of garlic and bell pepper.

“Muku-san.” Azami speaks up from over his bowl, sauce spilled at the corner of his lips. He tries to focus on his words instead of his mouth. “I checked my calendar before coming here and I noticed... it’s been a month since we, uh... became committed.”

He can’t hide his smile at Azami’s very own way of stating things.

“I want to confirm, is this why you invited me tonight?”

“Yes. Did you enjoy the festival?”

“Of course I did!”, he stutters. “But... I’m sorry I can’t give you a better gift right now. I know this is an important day, but I couldn’t think of anything... So I thought I could at least pay for dinner.”

His gaze trails down to the food, chopsticks poking it without interest. Muku breathes in so he won’t get ahead of himself — it’s not Azami’s fault, he didn’t even say it was a celebration, he didn’t expect him to feel guilty for not getting a gift— oh my God, he didn’t get Azami a gift either. He has overlooked a crucial detail—

“I- I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything!”

“What?”

“What?”

“I thought the festival was a gift?”

“No? I just wanted to make today a special day. I mean! An even more special day. Every day I spend with you is already more than special for me, Azami-kun.” Although it sounded like a cheap excuse, Muku’s words were heartfelt. All he wanted was for Azami to feel treasured and loved. If only he was able to properly express that... “I’m thankful for the dinner, I’m glad you’ve thought of me. The way you looked when we arrived already made all of my planning worth it. The food is very good, but the face you made when tasting it was a better gift than anything I could ever give you! I enjoy your company a lot, and I had tons of fun today, and I laughed a lot when we were at the fishing stall... The candy apple was so sweet I couldn’t feel its taste, and the grilled skewers were a bit burnt, and today was so hot my sweat was sweating, but...! I enjoyed it all because you were with me—”

“Time out!” Azami pushes his hands forward, a plea for Muku, looking like he would explode if anything else was said. “Time out, please. You know I can’t take all of this at once.” 

“I’m sorry...”

“No, please, don’t apologize. If anything, I can say that...” Muku can hear him gulping, swallowing a lump down his throat. “All you said about me also applies to you. I mean, everything you said about... my company being enough, and being happy only by being together...”

On instinct, Muku reaches out and holds his shaking hands.

“... I’m glad you’re with me, Muku-san. I’m so happy every time I see you, when we talk to each other. I have no idea what I did to deserve your love. You’re amazing.”

“No, you’re much more amazing!”

“I could never say the things you say!”

“Well, I…”

It’s at this point when Muku’s lips go loose, and he starts giggling at how weird they must look in the middle of the booth. Holding hands over two bowls of yakisoba, blushing to the tip of their ears, dramatically shout-whispering. He decides to settle the discussion before the food goes cold.

“I’m sorry this is sudden, but I love you, Azami-kun.”

“Mm.” He nods and lets go of Muku’s hands. “Love you too.” 

All’s well that ends well, he guesses.

But wait, this is not over!

... is what Muku thinks on the train back home. After leaving the yakisoba booth, they noticed the sky was heavy with gray, so the wise thing to do was going home before it all decided to pour down. Too bad they couldn’t stay for the fireworks display, he mused, but Azami added that they wouldn’t be able to see a lot with the sky like that, anyway. Also, the trains would get packed with people running away from the storm if they decided to wait any longer. 

And he was right, Muku concedes, watching heavy drops hit the pavement outside Veludo station.

“Shit”, Azami hisses under his breath. “I won’t make you run to the dorms with your feet like that, so I’ll call shitty Sakyo to pick us up...”

“No need!” He reached inside his handbag, pulling a neatly folded umbrella from it. “I got us covered. Let’s go?”

Going back to the main point, he focuses while Azami takes the umbrella from him, the advantage of height on his side. His goal for tonight was their first kiss, but now they were about to get home and nothing close to it happened. Well, he got that declaration back at dinner, so maybe that’s enough for tonight...

As if. Muku still feels like Azami still deserves a better gift, after all.

Holding on to his arm once again, he thinks Azami might be getting used to this. He doesn’t flinch (and apologizes) for it anymore. Even if he knows he has to take it slowly, the thought makes him want to snuggle closer. Maybe after they change into more comfortable clothes...

“Thank you for the invite once again.” Azami mumbles, cutting Muku’s internal monologue. “I really enjoyed the festival, even if we had to leave early.”

“I’m glad” is all he can reply.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get to watch the fireworks.” He carries on. “Maybe next time, though the Summer festival season is basically over, we should go to one as soon as it arrives next year. If you want to... it can be when we commemorate our first anniversary.”

Next year, huh?

“Azami-kun.” Muku tugs on his sleeve, making him look down. He takes advantage of everything he can — their heights, the shared umbrella, the rain coming down on them like bullets, the empty streets, the few minutes they have until reaching home — and pulls Azami down to meet his lips. There’s still a faint taste of shoyu sauce on them. His first kiss isn’t as magical as he thought it would be; there are no sparkles, no loud heart-thumping, no flowers blooming inside him. It’s brief and silent, a gentle warmth spreading across his chest despite the cold wetness of his yukata. It’s the best feeling Muku ever experienced. 

“Thank you for being with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](http://twitter.com/wingsaloof)


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